FinTech Magazine – August 2019

A look inside GarantiBank’s mammoth digital transformation www.fintechmagazine.com

AUGUST 2019

A people-led digital strategy

REFINITIV EMPOWERING SUSTAINABILITY WITH DATA Head of Sustainability, Luke Manning, explains the centrality of the company’s sustainability strategy

CYBERSECURITY SOLUTIONS FOR SMEs

TOP 10

FINTECH LEADERS

FOREWORD

W

elcome to the August edition

American company Gateway First

of FinTech Magazine!

Bank hopes to cement its future as a

For our cover story this month,

full service bank and, in Canada,

we interview Refinitiv’s Head of

Darren Jones of KPMG shares the

Sustainability, Luke Manning, who

company’s pragmatic approach to

explains the company’s trailblazing

cybersecurity.

sustainability strategy.

Our other features include

From Europe, we have

an interview with Raymond

two features about AXA,

Qu, who explains how

with interviews from

GEOSwift is aiding

Olivier Schemberg,

China’s ambition to go

Head of IT (CIO) of AXA Poland, and Kuldeep Kaushik, COO at AXA INM.

Luke Manning, Refinitiv

Additionally, we hear from GarantiBank International on its

global, an advice piece from Keld van Schreven on building a better crypto network and the top 10

leaders across the fintech sector.

four-year plan to become a modern digital bank.

In the Middle East, Saltuk Benderlioglu, the Director of Information

Do you have a story to share? If so, please get in touch at amber.donovanstevens@bizclikmedia.com

and Communication Technology at Al Khaliji bank, explains what constitutes

Enjoy the read!

a ‘next generation bank.’

Amber Donovan-Stevens

Elsewhere, we learn how the

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03

From Inspiration

to Innovation

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CONTENTS

12 Achieving sustainable finance with Refinitiv

26 PAYMENT INFRASTRUCTURE: GOING GLOBAL WITH GEOSWIFTÂ

36 Building a better crypto network

46 FinTech leaders

64 The biggest industry events

68 AXA Poland

82

96

GarantiBank NV

AXA INM

128 Gateway First Bank

110 Al Khaliji Commercial Bank

144 KPMG Canada

12

Achieving sustainable finance with Refinitiv WRITTEN BY

WILLIAM SMITH PRODUCED BY

CAITLYN COLE

AUGUST 2019

13

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REFINITIV

Refinitiv’s Head of Sustainability, Luke Manning, explains the centrality of the company’s sustainability strategy in inspiring its own practices and informing the products it offers customers

T

he role of finance in sustainability cannot be understated. When capital reaches sustainable enterprises and companies

are rewarded for sustainable behaviour through investment, it is the world that reaps the benefits.

14

Such decisions, however, can only be made in the presence of accurate, understandable information.

Refinitiv is the leading provider of environmental, social and governance (ESG) data. Founded in 2018 out of Thomson Reuters’ Financial and Risk unit, the company has taken advantage of its rebirth to institute an ambitious sustainability strategy.

At the same time, it is putting sustainability at the heart of its business model, offering customers the sustainability data they need to make the right decisions to drive positive and sustainable business outcomes. Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives, has worked for the company since the Thomson Reuters days and has overseen the positioning of sustainability at the core of the firm’s operations.

AUGUST 2019

15

“ Ensuring sustainability is at the heart of building our culture and our values is a privileged position to be in” — Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

REFINITIV

“ Our tagline is ‘data is just the beginning’ and that couldn’t be truer for sustainability” — Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives

“We look at sustainability through two lenses,” says Manning. “The first is how we operate as a business ourselves, and how we measure our own impact. The second is how we drive sustainable behaviour beyond the boundaries of our own footprint.”

Internally, Refinitiv seeks to hold itself to account across a broad range of factors, from efficient use of resources and recycling to community and charity support. “Activities that traditionally sat under a corporate responsibility banner now form part of our sustainability strategy,” explains

16

Manning. Not content with altering its own behaviour, however, Refinitiv looks outward with its concept of ‘Sustainable Leadership’. “We want to make sure we stand ourselves up as a responsible business – but what do we do as a business that also contributes to the greater good?

That’s where AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘DATA IS JUST THE BEGINNING’ 17 our data, technology and expertise

energy in the same timeframe,

come in. We have positioned ourselves

and we’re going to reduce our own

at the heart of an ecosystem of change

carbon emissions by, on average,

makers, and use our data to empower

10% every year for the next five years.

investors to shift towards sustainable

We have to hold ourselves to account;

finance. If we can do that, it really starts

we have to put a marker in the ground

to unlock something that is meaningful

that says ‘that’s what we’re aiming

at scale.”

for and this is why we’re aiming for it’.

If you don’t set targets, that’s when

TARGETS

things slip.” As part of its commitment

Internally, Refinitiv has instituted

to representing and supporting

specific, time-dependent targets.

the communities in which it operates,

“We’re going to be carbon neutral by

Refinitiv has also promised to double

2020,” says Manning. “We’re going

its community investment programme

to be 100% powered by renewable

engagement by 2020, as well as have w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

REFINITIV

18

40% of its senior leadership roles filled

ing schoolgirls in India,” he says.

by women.

“That’s where the real, true value

The organisation’s targets dovetail with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but for Manning,

of measuring the impact of those SDGs comes through.”

The spirit of using targets to drive

simple alignment is not enough. “We’re

performance extends to Refinitiv’s

trying to focus on the targets beneath

product offering. “It’s always healthy

the logos. There are 169 underlying

to benchmark performance; ESG

targets, and they are a lot harder to hit.”

is no different,” says Manning.

To achieve this, Refinitiv’s sustainability

“We have over 400 metrics that drive

team coordinates global, centralised

transparency and comparability in the

campaigns as well as local action via

market and that can only be a positive.”

volunteer teams. “It could be beach

Beyond holding companies to account,

cleaning in the Philippines, or mentor-

having an idea of competitors’ perfor-

AUGUST 2019

mance can have a clarifying effect.

On the contrary, some of the challenge

“If you know what you’re comparing

has simply been ensuring that enthusi-

against, you have a frame of reference,

asm translates into definitive action.

and it’s much easier to make a decision.

“There’s absolutely no shortage

What data does is drive clarity, and it’s

of buy-in and support from across

clarity that can drive decisions. If you

the business for the sustainability work

don’t have that data, all you’re really

– right the way through from the CEO

going on is an opinion,” he adds.

to the front line. Every day there are new ideas originating throughout the

CULTURE

business. It’s about how we bottle

Manning hasn’t encountered any lack

up that enthusiasm and keep up the

of appetite for sustainability at Refinitiv.

momentum.” Such is the prominence

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

19

Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives Manning leads the sustainability function for Refinitiv, as part of the global strategy leadership team – developing Refinitiv’s position as a sustainable and responsible business, addressing the effect of its operational and environmental footprint, and harnessing its expertise, technology and data to drive positive social change Formerly a freelance journalist, Manning has subsequently specialised in developing and communicating core business strategies with tangible commercial, reputational and social impact. Prior to his current role, he worked with a number of global organisations in senior leadership and consulting positions, including Thomson Reuters, Balfour Beatty, Barclays Bank and Kier Group.

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REFINITIV

20

“ We’ll make sure that when it comes to the provision of sustainability-related data and analytics, we’ll absolutely be best in class” — Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives AUGUST 2019

of sustainability at the company that it even plays a role in attracting talent.

“It’s a given that sustainability is the right thing to do, and that’s what people are demanding now. At every point in the induction lifecycle when people decide to come and work here, these are the questions that come up increasingly frequently: ‘What do you stand for? What are your policies, your goals and your pledges when it comes to environmental and social initiatives?’”

The community nature of sustainability at Refinitiv can in part be credited to its youth. “As a standalone business, we are still brand new,” says Manning.

“We’re not even a year old yet. It’s really a privileged position to be in, to be able to make sure that sustainability is at the heart of building our culture and our values.” It’s clear that the opportunity has been comprehensively harnessed at Refinitiv, but in line with its dual concept of sustainability, Manning stresses the need for others to do the same, and the company provides the tools to achieve just that.

“Collective action is our mantra for this.

Data underpins the process and w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

21

REFINITIV

our tagline is ‘data is just the beginning’.

We have a part to play, but we need to do it with everyone else – whether that’s other businesses, partners, competitors, governments or individuals – we all have to do it together to solve it. We’ll make sure that when it comes to the provision of data and analytics, we’ll absolutely be best in class.”

SUSTAINABLE FINANCE “Sustainable finance is shifting funding to investments that take more than just 22

financial considerations into account – investments which put a value on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors” says Manning.

Refinitiv offers the tools to make sustainable finance a reality for its customers across a range of ESG

$1.56mn First quarter revenue ‘19

data and risk products. “If a customer is looking to invest in these sustainable initiatives, we provide the transparent data and analysis to allow comparability. This is fundamental in reorienting capital to sustainable investments.”

The company’s ESG data must overcome some hurdles to achieve parity with its more conventional financial data. “Globally, there’s very AUGUST 2019

2018

Year founded

London Offices

inconsistent reporting on ESG data.

When financial institutions come to weave these data points into their proprietary models, it’s still quite hard to do so unless you provide a degree of standardisation and harmonisation” says Manning. This is where Refinitiv’s work comes to the fore, ensuring that data is transparent, usable and relevant. The more ESG data is used, the more its prominence increases and the higher its quality becomes, as Manning explains: “Now, corporate, regulators, institutional investors and capital rating professionals are all becoming increasingly aware of the importance of ESG data.

That’s driving up the standard as they’ll have to use it day in, day out to get positive financial outcomes.”

Refinitiv is trusted not only to provide this information, but to present it in the manner required by its customers.

“We’re the leading provider of ESG data. We cover 8,000 companies, represent 70% of the global market cap and have over 400 data points included. We also carry information on ESG bonds, loans, carbon and renewables pricing data and financial crime information. This all aggregates w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

23

REFINITIV

to provide a bigger picture,” Manning explains. “For example, we create a composite score consisting of environmental, social and governance pillars, and things like ESG controversies. We take that data, we make it valuable and useful, and then present it in such a way that it can be easily consumed at speed and at scale.” The global reach of Refinitiv’s data has seen the firm partner with organisations including the European Commission, the United Nations and the World Economic 24

Forum. With the latter, they have created the Sustainable Leadership Monitor, an analytics app which allows the measurement of the long—term sustainability progress of publicly listed companies, underpinning

and passion for sustainability, which

Refinitiv’s commitment to providing

itself is integral to the sustainable

the information necessary for collec-

finance products and services

tive leadership and decision making.

it provides. Such clarity of purpose

Ultimately, Refinitiv’s clear and

is vital when facing the rapidly evolving,

comprehensive strategy ensures

unpredictable challenges sustainability

the cause of sustainability is placed

presents. “From an environmental

at the very heart of its business model,

perspective, it’s clear that we have this

with the values it holds being translated

increasingly narrow window to address

into clear goals. These goals then help

the threat that we face,” says Manning.

to inform and create the culture

“Current models of consumption

of company-wide participation

and industrialisation are not going

AUGUST 2019

25

to support the exponentially growing

offers the opportunity to resolve

population. If you look at what busi-

that tension and drive outcomes

nesses face, particularly, there’s

that are positive in both a sustainable

a new paradigm that requires the

and business sense.

creation of long-term practices that respect the environment, the wellbeing of employees and the prospects of future generations, whilst still making money, improving profitability, funding innovation and achieving an increased market share.� Refinitiv’s implementation of sustainable finance w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

LEADERSHIP

26

PAYMENT INFRASTRUCTURE: GOING GLOBAL WITH GEOSWIFT WE CAUGHT UP WITH GEOSWIFT’S RAYMOND QU AT MONEY2020 ASIA TO DISCUSS THE PART PLAYED BY THE BUSINESS IN CHINA’S AMBITION TO GO GLOBAL

WRITTEN BY

AUGUST 2019

OLIVIA MINNOCK

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LEADERSHIP

I

n China, business is going global. Having made commitments at state level to declare its doors open to foreign investment, the country is now making waves across Asia

and beyond. Born out of this new attitude in 2007

was Geoswift, which works to exchange money across borders in an increasingly globalised economy. “We see cross border business is fast growing and more and more people will jump into 28

that sector,” says Raymond Qu, Founder and CEO at Geoswift, adding that a lot must still be done to cater for increasingly international business and the transactions that go with it. “You can see some local winners across Europe, China and the US. However, cross-border business is still very new to everyone. It is more complicated than domestic payment systems,” he explains.

Indeed, cross-border transactions involve dealing with compliance for more than one country as well as fluctuating values. “More and more countries have passed regulations for money laundering and so on. Meanwhile at least two currencies will be involved so it’s not as simple as cash in and cash out. You need to manage different currencies and exchange rates,” Qu adds.

AUGUST 2019

29

“ WITH ANY NEW TECHNOLOGY – LIKE SMARTPHONES, QR CODES, OR EVEN BIOMETRICS – THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS HOW A CONSUMER CAN USE IT EASILY” Raymond Qu, Founder and CEO, Geoswift w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

LEADERSHIP

“ YOU CAN SEE SOME LOCAL WINNERS ACROSS EUROPE, CHINA AND THE US. HOWEVER, CROSS-BORDER BUSINESS IS STILL VERY NEW TO EVERYONE” Raymond Qu, Founder and CEO, Geoswift

30

GOING GLOBAL WITH ECOMMERCE One of the most notable ways Chinese businesses are expanding across the world is through ecommerce, with popular companies like Alibaba becoming well-known in the west and developing other business areas from logistics to AI development.

Qu says trusted internet giants can provide a good gateway for Chinese businesses to make themselves known overseas. “For ecommerce, the most challenging thing is to build credibility with the customer,” says Qu. “Why do they trust you to buy stuff online from your stores? At the early stage, the most important thing is to AUGUST 2019

deal with a branded marketplace like eBay, Amazon or AliExpress – it’s like if you live in a small town you will deal with the local restaurants, but if you travel abroad you might choose McDonald’s or Starbucks as you know exactly how they work.”

While in the US, around 60% of ecommerce is done by independent retailers, China has yet to catch up and is still building trust. Generally though, customers the world over are more likely to buy foreign goods through a well-known international platform. “In cross-border retail, most transactions are still done through Amazon, eBay, or other established brands in the marketplace,” says Qu. “However, we are seeing a shift because more and more consumers feel confident to buy foreign goods from retail stores directly.”

SMOOTH TRANSACTIONS With the rise of omnichannel retail, the payment experience becomes more and more important as consumers demand more choice and a smoother transaction whether instore or online.

This needs to run like clockwork on international platforms and at electronic w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

31

LEADERSHIP

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘MONEY20/20 ASIA 2018 – UNLOCKING BORDERLESS PAYMENTS INTO AND OUT OF CHINA’ 32 points of sale alike if a business is to

smartphone, they get a better

attract consumers from all over the

experience. That’s going to be the

world. “For ecommerce, payment is

future but it will take time. A company

always the last point – people don’t want

like Geoswift still needs to invest

to pay,” says Qu, adding that the idea is

a lot in technology to make things

to make this process so smooth it all

easier for the consumer. The key is

but disappears. “Singapore plays a very

to make things as simple as possible.

important role in cashless,” he com-

All the inventions in human history are

ments, referring to the chosen venue for

for one reason: because people are

Money2020 Asia, “and some countries

lazy, right? People don’t want to

are doing the same thing. The argument

waste time, and the payment space

is how soon it becomes a global solution.”

is no different. With any new technology

“I think the important thing comes

– like smartphones, QR codes, or even

back to consumer experience,” he

biometrics – the most important thing

adds. “If the consumer pays with a

is how a consumer can use it easily.

AUGUST 2019

“ FOR ECOMMERCE, THE MOST CHALLENGING THING IS TO BUILD CREDIBILITY WITH THE CUSTOMERY” Raymond Qu, Founder and CEO, Geoswift

and of a smaller size. If a client wants to move $1mn to 10,000 different people, it’s impossible for banks to deal with this, so this is something for us to try. The beauty of new technology is it allows us to work with small value, big volume transactions.”

As Geowsift continues to build its business, Qu says that events like Money2020 will remain a key part of the company’s growth and the overall advancement in payment technology. “The main reason we come to Money2020 is networking.

We’ve been in the business for over 20 years so we have a lot of friends

Once my parents start saying they

and clients here. It’s good to meet

don’t want to pay with cash and prefer

with them in person at least once

mobile – that will be a success.”

a year. Another important part is

Where Geoswift comes in is

to learn what’s new in the industry.

allowing a high volume of small

It’s fantastic. You get to see so much

transactions to run smoothly – a must

new technology, and every time we

for retailers wishing to improve

get a lot out of the event.”

consumer experience beyond China.

“We’re not a competitor for banks,” Qu clarifies. “The whole banking system was designed for one-to-one transactions. If I want to wire $10,000 from A to B, I will go to a bank.

However, nowadays with internet and mobile, transactions are fragmented w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

33

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BLOCKCHAIN

36

BUILDING A BETTER CRYPTO NETWORK Keld van Schreven is the Co-Founder of London listed digital asset investment company KR1 plc. Here he shares with us his advice on how to build a better crypto network WRITTEN BY

AUGUST 2019

KELD VAN SCHREVEN

37

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BLOCKCHAIN

“ The dream of crypto is to remove borders and barriers to allow you to become an active participant in these new economic models” — Keld van Schreven Managing Partner and Co-Founder of KR1 plc

38

T

he crypto business is slowly

Fragments) IEO on Bitfinex sold out

coming out of the big bear market

USD$5mn in eleven seconds. IEOs are

but nonetheless, exciting new

a more centralised form of an ICO and

blockchain projects still have

does not have such borderless and

fairly good access to capital from

anonymous investment opportunity

hundreds of crypto funds and inves-

as an ICO. It also gives a security risk

tors. These projects are being funded

in more hostile regimes as you have to

by a combination of equity for tokens,

undertake Know Your Customer (KYC)

pure equity or a token sale via newer

to invest. The dream of crypto is to

Initial Exchange Offerings (IEO) rather

remove borders and barriers to allow

than Initial Coin Offerings (ICO). This

you to become an active participant in

is mainly due to regulatory fears. The

these new economic models. This is

recent Ampleforth (previously called

why the ICO was so successful, an IEO

AUGUST 2019

39

just puts that barrier back up.

Once you have completed your capi-

and this token needs to be in the right hands. As these networks are decen-

tal raise, you now have the big issue

tralised, projects need quality teams or

of building your network. In Web 2.0

individuals running nodes or adding to

terms this is called ‘Customer Acquisi-

the open source software code. They

tion’ and is possibly the biggest chal-

will run transactions and operate the

lenge for teams to overcome. Block-

network with a founding team who act

chain companies are in effect network

as part of the project advisory team.

companies relying, rather like social

ICOs tended to put the token in the

media projects, in an active network of

hands of people who wanted a quick

evangelists, users, developers and in-

buck and move on. There was no loy-

vestors as their customers. Blockchain

alty or interest in the longer term vision

projects usually have a token attached

of the projects and few of these people w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

BLOCKCHAIN KR1 PLC

About Keld van Schreven and KR1 plc

40

Keld van Schreven Keld van Schreven is Managing Partner and Co-Founder of KR1 plc, the London listed cryptocurrency and blockchain investment company. He has been involved in the tech industry since 1995 and Bitcoin since 2013. Previously, he has started several tech startups including SmartTrade App, a leading UK mobile payment app. Van Schreven is a true advocate for the use of blockchain technology and a regular speaker at industry events, including Techcrunch and MoneyX. KR1 KR1 is a leading digital asset investment company supporting early stage decentralised and open source blockchain projects.

Founded in 2016 and publicly traded in London (NEX:KR1), KR1 has built a notable reputation for generating significant returns by investing in many key projects that are designed to power the decentralised platforms and protocols that are emerging to form new internet infrastructures.

AUGUST 2019

“ At the time of writing, over one hundred and thirty million dollars worth of Ether had been committed to the Edgware Lockdrop” — Keld van Schreven Managing Partner and Co-Founder of KR1 plc

wanted to write code or run nodes.

So token distribution is key. How do you get the token into these people’s hands who will write code and run nodes?

Airdrops were tried on Ethereum projects but the idea of receiving something for free devalued it. We all got ‘spam tokens’ in our wallets which would just be sold instantly. You didn’t have to do anything for it or pay for it and they are a bit like junk mail, you didn’t ask for it and it’s there in your wallet. With airdrops failing there is a

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘IN CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE MCDONAUGH – CEO KR1 PLC’ 41

need for new token distribution models.

Restriction is a great engine of inven-

blockchain to a contract address so it’s ‘locked’. In return you receive Edge-

tion. You want to keep it borderless and

ware tokens in a specified time lock ei-

permissionless, keeping KYC out, and

ther three, six or twelve months. Or you

you want the right people. So how do

can just ‘signal’ your interest by logging

you achieve this?

your Ether address and not sending

One project trying a new way is

the Ether tokens. In return you will get a

called Edgware. It has pioneered

lower reward of Edgeware tokens than

what is called a Lockdrop. Edgware

sending them.

is also the first project to go decloak

What’s the value in that you say?

on the eagerly anticipated Polkadot

Edgware have already raised money

blockchain later this year. The distribu-

through a traditional equity route, so

tion mechanism being tried is send-

these tokens are all about distribu-

ing Ether tokens from the Ethereum

tion. All projects like Edgeware want a w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

BLOCKCHAIN

42

good distribution of tokens to a qual-

to avoid security issues (with KYC

ity cross section of code writers and

for example).

node runners and evangelists. Why could this work?

• Gets a wide distribution regardless whether the market is in a bull or bear trend.

A LOCKDROP: • Increases the chance of regulatory

A lockdrop is like a loan you get paid

compliance to avoid being shut down.

back. You get the extra tokens and it

It filters the right participants most

has the anonymous element of an ICO

likely to use their token.

(which worked so well). So, once you

• Avoids speculators and dumpers by locking them in.

• Is decentralised and permissionless AUGUST 2019

have locked your Ethereum, you are in the community.

So far, at the time of writing, over

“ Restriction is a great engine of invention” — Keld van Schreven Managing Partner and Co-Founder of KR1 plc

nating to see how this plays out.

Another new project trying another method is called Nuchypher and their distribution method is called the ‘WorkLock’. A WorkLock is where you send Ether to an escrow account and if you perform useful tasks in the network you get NuCypher tokens, on top of your original Ether tokens back after a certain time period. If you perform no useful task in the network you get your NuCypher tokens but not your original Ether tokens back. This encourages the right type of code being written and node runners who help build the network and as a result, discourages speculators. In NuCypher own words

one hundred and thirty million dol-

‘participants don’t purchase tokens

lars worth of Ether had been commit-

and no entity receives funding, there

ted to the Edgware Lockdrop. This is

is no investment of money.’ No fear of

way more than expected, so it’s been

the regulators here. This again seems

a huge success. There are several

a great reinvention of the ICO with, we

clever ideas at play here. One is, it gets

hope for a better outcome.

Ethereum token holders onto another

So, if you are building a network

blockchain and locks them in. Once

company on the blockchain you can

Polkadot launches, Edgeware will be

experiment with some of these novel

a smart contract platform competing

new distribution models alongside your

with Ethereum. A new blockchain with

funding round and network build.

a new distribution experiment. This is clever distribution and it will be fasciw w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

43

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AUGUST 2019

FinTech leaders FinTech Magazine lists the leaders powering the premier fintech firms, according to Investopedia’s ranking of the world’s top 10 fintech companies WRIT TEN BY

WILLIA M SMITH

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T O P 10

48

10

Ant Financial [Eric Jing]

Ant Financial is the world’s largest fintech company and a member of the Alibaba Group of companies. Formerly Alipay, the company rebranded in 2014 with Alipay becoming its payment platform brand.

Other products include credit rating system Sesame Credit and credit payment company Huabei. Eric Jing serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman. He is a veteran at Alibaba, having joined as Senior Finance Director in 2007. His other roles have included Alipay CFO and Ant Financial COO.

AUGUST 2019

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09

Adyen

[Pieter van der Does]

Dutch payment services company Adyen was founded in 2006 by a team comprised of members of former payments company Bitbit, which had been acquired by RBS. After numerous years of growth, the company went public in 2018, listing on the Euronext exchange. In the same year, the company signed a deal with eBay to gradually become the primary processor of payments for the company. CEO and co-founder Pieter van der Does studied economics at the University of Amsterdam, and in June 2018 his 4.8% stake in the company was valued at $800mn.

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08

Qudian [Min Luo]

Qudian came to attention in 2017 after an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange raised more than $900mn in what was the largest ever US listing by a Chinese fintech firm. The micro-credit provider is backed

by Alibaba’s Ant Financial and offers consumer electronics in monthly instalments via its website. Min Luo is founder, chairman and CEO of the company. Before founding Qudian in 2014, Luo was involved with numerous websites including an online apparel and shoe retailer, a birthday provider, and a website for college students.

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53

07

Xero

[Rod Drury]

The New Zealand based Xero provides accounting software.

Its cloud-based solutions are intended for use by SMEs, funded by its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. Founded in 2006 by entrepreneur Rod Drury, the company went public in New Zealand in 2007, before listing on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2012 and delisting from the NZX in 2018. Drury stepped down as CEO in 2018, selling shares but retaining a 13% stake in the company and remaining as a non-executive director.

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T O P 10

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06

SoFi

[Anthony Noto]

Social Finance (SoFi) is a personal finance company founded in 2011

by Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) graduates Mike Cagney, Dan Macklin, James Finnigan and Ian Brady. Its business is particularly focused on the provision of student loan refinancing, but the company has expanded into mortgages, mortgage refinancing and personal loans. Anthony Noto joined the company as CEO in 2018, having previously worked at Goldman Sachs and as COO of Twitter.

Noto also has financial experience having acted as CFO of the NFL.

AUGUST 2019

55

05

Lufax

[Greg Gibb]

Shanghai’s Lufax began as a peer to peer lending platform, but has in more recent times branched into wealth management. Traditional insurer Ping An Insurance founded the company in 2011, and it remains part of the Ping An Group. CEO Greg Gibb is a rarity as an American CEO of a Chinese company. Gibb graduated from Middlebury College with a BA in East Asian Studies where he learnt Mandarin Chinese. He has been working in Asia for about 30 years across Taipei, Singapore, Hong Kong and China.

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T O P 10

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04

Avant

[Al Goldstein]

Chicago, Illinois based loan company Avant was founded in 2012.

Creating tailored loans from advanced data analytics and machine learning, the company has consistently raised funds since graduating from the Y Combinator seed accelerator. CEO Al Goldstein founded the company alongside CTO Paul Zhang and Chief Credit Officer John Sun. Having worked for Deutsche Bank as an investment banker, Goldstein also serves as CEO of Amount, Avant’s rebranded bank partnership platform.

AUGUST 2019

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03

ZhongAn

[Jeffrey Chen]

Chinese insurtech company ZhongAn was founded in 2013 with backing from Alibaba’s Jack Ma, Tencent’s Pony Ma and Ping An Insurance’s Mingzhe Ma. The company’s meteoric rise has seen it capture a younger demographic compared to most insurance companies thanks to its focus on the technological side of the business. Jeffrey Chen has been CEO and Executive Director of the Shanghai-based company since 2014. In 2018, the company received a $100mn investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund.

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T O P 10

02 Klarna

[Sebastian Siemiatkowski] Digital bank Klarna was founded by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Niklas Adalberth and Victor Jacobsson in 2005. The company has found

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success as a digital payment provider in its native Sweden and beyond, competing with giants like Paypal by virtue of its simple approach. Co-founder Siemiatkowski started the company towards the end of his time at the Stockholm School of Economics, becoming CEO in 2010.

AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘WHAT IS KLARNA?’ 59

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T O P 10

01

Oscar

[Mario Schlosser]

Oscar Health is a digital health insurance company founded in 2012 in New York by Kevin Nazemi, Josh Kushner and Mario Schlosser, who is the company’s CEO. Schlosser holds a degree in computer science, and has brought his technological experience to the health industry in which Oscar operates. A graduate of Harvard’s MBA course, Schlosser is a native German who previously found success as a co-founder of Brazilian social games company Vostu.

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AUGUST 2019

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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘OSCAR PRODUCT DEMO’

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EVENTS & A S S O C I AT I O N S

The biggest events and conferences around the EDITED BY OLIVIA MINNOCK world for fintech leaders

5–6 SEPT 2019

AI in Finance Summit 3–4 SEPT 2019

Seamless East Africa 64

[ NAIROBI ]

[ NEW YORK ] Organised by global summit creator ReWork, the AI in Finance Summit is colocated with the AI in Insurance Summit

This is the leading fintech event for the

and Women in AI Dinner. The previous

East Africa region, and 2019 marks its

iteration of the two-day event included a

fifth iteration. The event is aimed at the

host of practical workshops and inform-

sectors of payments, fintech, banking

ative presentations. Confirmed speakers

and insurtech. At present, it welcomes

for 2019’s event includes Joan Gelpi,

around 1,500 professionals from

SVP and Head of Data Science at AIG;

across 45 countries. Speakers set to

Manuela Veloso, Head of AI Research at

attend this year come from Harvard

JPMorgan Chase & Co; and Charles

Innovation Lab, the Government of

Girve, Lead Data Scientist at Deutsche

Kenya, Standard Chartered Bank,

Bank. With hours of networking opportu-

Barclays Bank and more. Some high-

nities, the event is recommended for

lights listed by the organisers include a

data scientists and engineers, financial

“pitch-off” for fintech startups, an “ask

regulators, C-level executives, venture

the expert zone” and a specific summit

capitalists and more, so there truly is set

for merchant payments.

to be something for everyone.

AUGUST 2019

23–25 SEPT 2019

InsureTech Connect [ MGM GRAND, LAS VEGAS ]

25 SEPT 2019

Billed as the world’s largest gathering

Blockchain Live

of insurance leaders and innovators,

[ OLYMPIA, LONDON, UK ]

InsureTech Connect (ITC) is highly

Blockchain Live aims to create a ‘festival

recommended for industry execs,

of content’, promoting discussion and

entrepreneurs and investors within,

debate around how to best accelerate

and impacted by, the insurance industry.

the global adoption of blockchain.

With companies in attendance including

Some notable speakers at this year’s

insurance giantslike Allianz, Lloyd’s,

event will include the Blockchain

Prudential and AXA, this is the place to

Research Institute’s Hilary Carter,

make global connections and under-

Global Digital Finance’s Teana Baker-

stand what some of the world’s biggest

Taylor and the Blockchain Policy

players are doing to remain competitive

Centre’s Caroline Malcolm. This year’s

in an increasingly digital landscape. 2018

event will include a Tech Connect

hosted a range of experienced speakers

Stage which will explore the technical

including Dan Glaser, CEO & President

challenges and opportunities presented

at Marsh & McLennan; Inga Beale, CEO

by blockchain and distributed ledger

of Lloyd’s; and Tracie Grella, Global Head

technology and the benefits it can

of Cyber at AIG. With this in mind, the

hold for information security, sharing

2019 event is set to be a must-visit.

and management.

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EVENTS & A S S O C I AT I O N S

The biggest events and conferences around the EDITED BY OLIVIA MINNOCK world for fintech leaders

OCT 2019

66

27–30 OCT 2019

Finovate Asia

Money20/20 US

[ TBC ]

[ LAS VEGAS ]

Following on from the success of 2018’s

This year’s US iteration of the world’s

event in Hong Kong as part of the city-

leading fintech event will be held in

state’s Fintech Week, advance tickets

Las Vegas. The event aims to create

are already on sale for Finovate Asia

an ecosystem of payments, banking,

2019 which promises 600+ attendees,

fintech and financial services leaders

20+ firms offering demonstrations

and offers networking opportunities,

and 80+ expert speakers for a mix of

panels, keynotes and a variety of other

speeches and panels. Finovate Asia

events. The Las Vegas event promises

advertises the opportunity for attendees

to welcome over 2,300 C-level

to “meet the fintechs, platform players,

executives and over 500 speakers.

financial institutions, regulators and

Key companies set to attend include

investors who are redefining the future

Finastra, Mastercard, IBM and

of financial services.” Notable speakers

Marqeta. The event will also include

in 2018 attended from Danske Bank,

the Rise Up programme which

AXA Lab, Accenture, Bank of America

supports women wishing to move up

and Alipay.

the career ladder, especially in the finance arena.

AUGUST 2019

11–15 NOV 2019

4–8 NOV 2019

Hong Kong FinTech Week

Singapore FinTech Festival [ SINGAPORE ] In 2018, the week-long event was

[ HONG KONG & SHENZHEN ]

attended by 45,000 participants from

The world’s first cross-border fintech

130 countries – this year, it is only set

event, the week takes place in both

to grow. Singapore FinTech Festival

Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China. Each

is sponsored by the likes of Deloitte,

year, the week includes more than

Google Cloud, VISA and Amazon

10,000 senior executives and features

Web Services. The world’s largest

over 250 fintech founders, investors,

FinTech event, it includes startups,

regulators and academics. Notable

policymakers, financial and technology

previous speakers have included

industry leaders and more. The festival

Ant Financial CEO Eric Jing, Ping An

is organized by the Monetary Authority

Executive Vice President Jessica Tan

of Singapore (MAS) in partnership

and Standard Chartered regional CEO,

with The Association of Banks in

Benjamin Hung. Last year, the week

Singapore and in collaboration with

was sponsored by many big names

SingEx Holdings. Key highlights of

including Standard Chartered, Citi,

the festival include the AI in Finance

Tencent, PwC and Finastra.

summit and the FinTech Awards.

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AXA Poland: peoplefocused digital transformation in Poland’s insurance sector

WRITTEN BY

MARCUS LAWRENCE PRODUCED BY

JAMES PEPPER

AUGUST 2019

69

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AXA POLAND

Olivier Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO) at AXA Poland, discusses the people-led strategy that is defining its digital transformation success

A

s an insurance provider with global reach, the digital transformation of AXA Group positively benefits its customers at every

stage of their lives. The company’s decentralised model for particular countries and territories has enabled it to maximise its relevance and competitivity wherever it hangs its cap. AXA Poland is no 70

exception and, as part of AXA’s International and New Markets (INM) group, comprised of over 25 countries in emerging and high growth markets, it benefits from shared best practices that serve as accelerators in greenfield projects. In tandem with the augmentation of tried and true practices from elsewhere in the group, and strategically applied Agile and Scrum methodologies, AXA Poland’s digital transformation has been influenced significantly by a focus on catering to the Polish market. “Since the 1990s, there has been an acceleration of the economy in Poland, and so it’s quite an active adopter of digitalisation,” says Olivier Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO) at AXA Poland, highlighting the prevalence of mobile first as a leading digital option for the company’s customers. “We have observed that, as its banking AUGUST 2019

“ One of our key challenges now is reinvesting in our people, in IT education, and skilling people differently” — Olivier Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO), AXA Poland

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71

AXA POLAND

industry is already quite digitalised,

the transformation’s potential success

Poland is one of Europe’s faster adop-

is limited. “A few years back, we were

ters of new payment methods, such as

moving forward with technology –

contactless credit cards and phone-

there was clear progress also from

based payments. In fact, whatever the

methodologies like Agile – but we

age category, mobile is first in Poland.”

were missing one big element: how

While this focus on the market and

to reskill at the same time and pace

customers is crucial for defining the

our people. In fact, with technology

appropriate strategy for AXA Poland’s

accelerating, we had to question why

digital transformation, Schemberg

we were not changing how our people

places pivotal importance on both

operate,” says Schemberg. “One of

methodology and change management.

our key challenges now is reinvesting

Without establishing a potent and

in our people, IT education and skilling

efficient basis of operations, he says,

people differently.” In recognising the

72

AUGUST 2019

importance of doing so, AXA Poland is

and 85,000 IT specialists, and the

reaping the benefits of a transformation

universities cannot produce this

where its staff can take full advantage

volume at the rate that is needed.”

of the new solutions. “Because of

In addition to addressing this challenge

these changes there is much more

by providing specialised training,

empowerment on the business side,

AXA Poland has begun training non-IT

and this is where many companies

people in Java programming. AXA

today are lagging behind.”

Poland has also partnered with Indian

Schemberg notes that this is not

IT outsourcing specialist Hexaware.

solely a strategic issue: the global

“Looking at the big lack of IT profes-

shortfall in data specialists and

sionals in Poland, Hexaware decided

associated experts is no less appar-

to create a new model of nearshoring

ent in Poland. “If you look at the Polish

in Warsaw, blending the Indian team

market, we’re lacking between 50,000

and Polish team to fit local customer 73

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘OC PACKAGE WITH A WIDE MIDI ASSISTANCE AFTER AN ACCIDENT AND AFTER A BREAKDOWN’

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AXA POLAND

74

needs,” says Schemberg. “One model

productivity, efficiency and quality,”

doesn’t fit all, so it is important to partner

he says, adding that it also enables the

with a company that has the capacity

firm to leapfrog development of some

to adapt its model of execution, such

legacy systems by simply infusing them

as with Hexaware reinventing the near

with automated capabilities. “It’s been

shoring concept.”

quite successful,” says Schemberg.

With strong, people-oriented

“We already have two operational RPA

foundations laid, AXA Poland can

solutions, and we have between 10

maximise the value of its digitalisation

and 15 that are still in development.”

projects. One such example that

This cutting-edge technology is

Schemberg highlights is the application

joining Tia Technology’s solutions

of robotic process automation (RPA)

on the back-end of AXA Poland’s

to many of its back-end processes.

operations. The Danish company

“RPA offers a mix between added

has accrued a significant share of the

AUGUST 2019

market, with its solutions found across

discussions about how the firm will

all major insurance players in Poland.

support the upgrades of its local

“Tia’s platform is our key asset for the

installations, as well as managing

Policy Insurance system for P&C Retail

cloud strategy evolution in the Polish

and Commercial Lines,” explains

market whilst taking all requirements

Schemberg. “Tia has a very solid

defined by our local Authority of

architecture with a strong back-end

Control. Understanding local challenges

platform, and it is developing additional

is a clear advantage for shaping the

capabilities to offer front-end, process

role of core back-end operations’

design and Business Intelligence

evolution to a very open architecture

solutions. This will be very interesting

model.” Schemberg notes that

for the greenfield operations and for

Poland’s cloud infrastructure is highly

consideration in the upgrade strategy.

regulated, with requirements including

We held the Tia Polish User Group in

backup capacity in case of service

June, allowing us to have very candid

disruption necessitating on-premise

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Olivier Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO) Schemberg has 30 years’ experience in IT in various positions, having spent the last 10 years as CIO in Insurance and Direct Business in Europe and Asia. He is passionate to understand the acceleration of technology and how this is transforming the way we his firm can support and cooperate with businesses as one team, whilst also understanding how it is influencing and transforming its target operating model and moving to Agile at scale. After almost five years spent in Japan, he is experienced in change management in a country well known for evolution without strong disruption. Schemberg has strong interpersonal and communication skills across diverse languages and cultures in Europe and Asia.

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75

Automate Everything, Cloudify Everything, Transform Customer Experience Leading Transformation Initiatives for Global Insurers Insurers around the globe currently face unprecedented challenges: interest rates jeopardize life business, insuretechs disrupting the non-commercial markets, user expectations of new customer generations clash with most monolithic operating and selling models of traditional insurers, to name a few. However, also a large amount of insurers comprehend this almost stuck situation as a chance: creating a total new customer experience through embedded mobile solutions and next-gen products, fully renovating the

core insurance systems and processes, connecting the new eco systems into the legacy world via API strategies and gaining back agility through massive (robotics based) automatization and cloud first strategy all across infrastructure, applications and even business processes.

Together with almost 20 insurers of all sizes around the globe Hexaware has innovated and helped its customers achieving significant both top-line as well as bottom-line improvements, leapfrogging

their competitive edge. We drive shortterm gains through automation with hundreds of bots, unleashing a new potential of human resources into digital projects, transforming core business as a partner of Guidewire, the de-facto platform for transforming P&C business. With cloudifying and automation of IT operations and developing and testing applications in bizdevops environment we give back the highly needed agility to our customers, enabling them to instantaneously react on market changes.

WATCH: DIGITIZATION OF INSURANCE VALUE CHAIN

Learn More

AXA POLAND

2006

Year founded

1,600

Approximate number of employees

Warsaw, Poland Headquarters

Solutions at the speed of life We address the needs of insurers who want to bundle and market services for more efficient customer engagement - swiftly reaching customers in their daily life. www.tiatechnology.com +45 7022 7620 tia@technology.com

79 resources. That being said, the Polish government is taking steps to strengthen cloud environments for enterprises undergoing digital transformation.

“The Polish government is building the ‘Polish National Cloud’, a new environment located in Poland that will offer the capacity for services to move to the cloud whilst simultaneously answering key requirements defined by the local Authority of Control.”

In terms of leveraging digital transformation for the benefit of its partners, Schemberg says AXA Poland has taken a similarly conscientious

“ Since the 90s, there has been an acceleration of the economy in Poland, and so it is quite an active adopter of digitalisation” — Olivier Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO), AXA Poland w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

AXA POLAND

“ In a digital transformation, you need to deliver what will be adopted by the customer” — Olivier Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO), AXA Poland 80

approach. “We can see that the evolution

Poland and a digital-focused player.

of the digitalisation is not only for the

It’s very interesting to work closely

benefit of the customer, but also for

with such an organisation, because on

the partners. For Property and Life

one hand you have traditional resist-

businesses, partners expect a digital

ances to moving to digital, and on the

integration with their system,” explains

other you have digital solutions being

Schemberg. “Paper processes between

used to get back to some human

partners are going to disappear. We

interaction where there is added value.

are increasingly connecting through

This is a fascinating balance.”

our APIs, a toolbox to plug in with the

Looking forward, Schemberg says

partner, and we’re connected to all

the company is looking to incorporate

of our partnered banks in this way.

data and analytics enabled insights to

We have a strategic partnership with

a significantly higher degree. “I think

mBank; the fourth largest bank in

the leveraging of data at the company

AUGUST 2019

81

will accelerate and, as part of our

to deliver what will be adopted by the

step-by-step environment development,

customer. If you are still using this old

we are investing in improving data

style of thinking – undergoing a digital

quality, control and governance,”

transformation but not thinking from

he says, adding that consistently tying

the customers’ point of view, that the

these developments into identifiable

process should not last more than one

business use cases is vital to success.

minute, or things to that effect – you

This mantra of strategically implementing

are probably out of the game.”

the most beneficial solutions ultimately links back to AXA Poland’s commitment to its customers. “In a digital transformation, you need to deliver what will be adopted by the customer.

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82

A look inside GarantiBank’s mammoth digital transformation WRITTEN BY

LAURA MULLAN PRODUCED BY

JAMES PEPPER

AUGUST 2019

83

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G A R A N T I B A N K I N T E R N AT I O N A L

GarantiBank International N.V. is showing how a real digital transformation is done

L

ast year, 85% of banks said that implementing a digital transformation programme was a “business priority” according to the

EY Global Banking Outlook. Perhaps nowhere can this be seen better than at GarantiBank International 84

N.V. Amid a flurry of digital disruption in the banking space, the Amsterdam-headquartered company has held its own, embarking on a root-and-branch digital transformation strategy.

A subsidiary of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS (Garanti), GarantiBank is striving to become a shining example of a modern, digitalised bank.

But make no mistake, this isn’t a fleeting initiative.

Rather, this is an intensive multi-year project which has seen the company revamp its back-office infrastructure, tap into the power of data, foster innovative ways of working and much more.

“When you’re embarking on a digital transformation project, it’s not something that you can do overnight. It takes multiple years to transform an organisation with the size of GarantiBank,” explains Chief Digital Officer, Alex Hurkmans.

AUGUST 2019

85

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G A R A N T I B A N K I N T E R N AT I O N A L

“ When you’re doing a digital transformation project, it’s just something that you cannot change overnight” — Alex Hurkmans, Chief Digital Officer, GarantiBank

“We realised we needed to focus on our IT capabilities first. But ultimately, we had to transform the whole organisation and adopt a more digital way of working.” Through its latest strategy, GarantiBank has worked diligently to focus on where it, as a financial service provider, can add real value.

Company leadership quickly realised that overseeing IT infrastructure wasn’t a core activity and could be better managed by an external specialist.

Therefore, GarantiBank forged a partnership with Belgium-based

86

company Cegeka. “We wanted to make use of existing services in the market and add our own value on top of that,” observes Hurkmans.

A notable milestone in the company’s digital transformation has been its shift towards a hybrid cloud environment.

Cegeka helped the Dutch bank set up this infrastructure, drawing upon the capabilities of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. “We decided to opt for a cloud-first strategy and we were one of the first banks that were really making full use of the public cloud for bank processes and client databases,” recalls Chief Operating Officer Marco AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘GARANTI BANK ENGLISH VERSION SD’ 87 Witteveen, noting how, before that,

challenge: reimagining the way its

the organisation ran its very own data

employees are working and teams are

centre. “We were spending almost

collaborating. With Cegeka’s help, it set

60-70% of our IT capacity just keeping

up a new digital workplace for more

the lights and it wasn’t bringing real

than 250 bank employees based on

added value to our customers,” echoes

Microsoft Office 365. This has proven

Hurkmans, adding that the company

to be a hit and has helped the bank

ultimately selected Cegeka to manage

meet the demands of its digitally-savvy

its IT infrastructure and act as the com-

and remote workers. “When we started,

pany’s cloud integrator. This involved

our workspace was still running on our

thorough risk assessments and approv-

old data centre and people had fixed

als, but now GarantiBank is reaping the

desks,” remembers Hurkmans. “We

rewards of its investment.

asked ourselves: what if we embraced

With a hybrid cloud strategy now in place, GarantiBank set about its next

the fast-emerging concept of ‘working anywhere, anytime’?” The Dutch bank w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

N W

E z

In close cooperation As a family-owned IT solutions provider founded on craftsmanship, we work in close cooperation with our customers.

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We help organizations create frictionless and highly personalized experiences for their customers, consumers and citizens.

Find us:

“ We decided to opt for a cloud-first strategy” — Marco Witteveen, Chief Operating Officer, Garantibank

collaborate and share information.

“It also fosters a more collaborative way of working,” he adds, noting how the company’s increasingly use of communication tools like MS Teams, “has improved our efficiency enormously and supports our agile way of working”.

GarantiBank’s digital strategy marks a fundamental departure from how the company used to operate. To further

adopted a more modern workspace

bolster this innovative approach, the

based on Microsoft 365 and imple-

Dutch company has increasingly

mented remote, portable devices,

championed new processes and

so that if employees were commuting

methodologies like Lean, Agile and

or not in the office they can still

Six Sigma. “To enhance our customer

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Marco Witteveen, Chief Operating Officer Mr Marco Witteveen started his professional life in 1985 as a management trainee at ING Bank, London. During his 30-year banking career, Witteveen held various positions with ING in Jakarta, London and New York, and also worked at NIBC Bank as the Managing Director of Technology and Operations.

Specialties: Managing Operations, ICT, and Project Offices in Banking as COO/CIO.

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89

G A R A N T I B A N K I N T E R N AT I O N A L

90

experience, stimulate internal collabora-

“We adopted the bi-modal IT architec-

tion and ensure that work can be done

ture of Gartner where Outsystems

anywhere and anytime we started to

is positioned as our system of engage-

move away from silos towards a holistic

ment (fast IT) and our current mono-

approach of end-to-end processes

lithic core banking system is minimised

by appointing process owners and

to just a system of record. We call this

digitising underlying end-to-end

‘caging the animal’ or significantly

processes with the support of Outsys-

reducing the dependency on legacy,”

tems. a low-code platform running in

Witteveen continues.

the AWS public cloud that has proven

In fact, over the past two years,

that it can accelerate our digital

Hurkmans underlines how the company

ambitions” explains Witteveen.

has “run more than hundred sprints

AUGUST 2019

â‚Ź90mn Approximate revenue

1990

Year founded

260

Approximate number of employees

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Alex Hurkmans, Chief Digital Officer Mr Alex Hurkmans started his professional career in 1996. Since then, he has held various positions in several dutch banks and insurance companies to implement organisational change programs and align corporate governance, technology and culture.

Highly experienced with People management, process management, governance, architecture and cultural aspect with respect to transformation and change.

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and already delivered lots of functionality for the whole client lifecycle management.” Hurkmans also points out how GarantiBank recently reorganised its IT department and adopted a DevOps approach, whereby it focused less on infrastructure and more on value-adding projects. “Before I joined, we did one or two IT projects per year on average,” Witteveen recalls. “In the last two and a half years, we now do around 18 to 20 projects each year and they’re also bigger and more complex. We’ve achieved this just by adopting DevOps and an agile AUGUST 2019

“ Continuous improvements and continuous change go hand in hand” — Marco Witteveen, Chief Operating Officer, Garantibank

93 way of working” As the speed of

of slowing down. Looking forward,

innovation continues at its blistering

the Dutch bank is readying itself

pace, Hurkmans points out how this

to launch a corporate internet platform

has helped to promote a sense of

and Hurkmans also highlights how

continuous improvement too. “With

the standardisation of end-to-end

the appointment of process owners

processes is helping GarantiBank

and close alignment with scrum

to prepare for the rise of Open Banking.

masters, IT and business colleagues

“In the coming years, we need to have

are closer together working for only

infrastructure that supports Open

real clients . We can also adjust during

Banking so that we can quickly use all

the sprint, which ensures we’re always

the new technologies and market

innovating and adapting in a never-

platforms that will be developed in

ending loop,” he explains.

the years to come,” he says. “It empha-

Garanti Bank’s digital strategy is in full swing and shows no signs

sises the necessity of being open and data-driven with standardised processes. w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

G A R A N T I B A N K I N T E R N AT I O N A L

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“ Digital transformation isn’t just about IT, it’s a transformation of the entire organisation” — Alex Hurkmans, Chief Digital Officer, GarantiBank AUGUST 2019

You should be able to link yourself to other players in the market. Don’t see them as competitors but rather see them as being part of an ecosystem. If we can do that successfully, I think we’ll do a great job.” Elsewhere, Witteveen points out how senior management will continue to steer the direction of the company by creating multi-disciplinary teams and giving clear guidance. “We are looking for a completely different skillset and we’ve decided to invest heavily in the people that are already working at GarantiBank International N.V.,” he adds. Regardless of the initiative though, it’s apparent that GarantiBank is in the midst of great change which will redefine the business for years to come. Indeed, as Hurkmans affirms: “Digital transformation isn’t just about IT, it’s a transformation of the entire organisation.”

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AXA International and New Markets: Customer-focused Tech and Data transformation across the globe WRITTEN BY

MARCUS LAWRENCE PRODUCED BY

JAMES PEPPER

AUGUST 2019

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A X A I N T E R N AT I O N A L A N D N E W M A R K E T S

Kuldeep Kaushik, COO at AXA INM, discusses the Tech and Data strategies driving a customer centric transformation across its global entities

I 98

n the age of digital transformation, global insurance provider AXA has adopted a decentralised approach to innovation.

AXA International and New Markets (AXA INM) takes charge of AXA’s operations in emerging and developing markets, covering Eastern European territories, Latin America, the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), Africa, India, Singapore, Malaysia and more. “There’s a significant amount of Transformation to deliver across the 20-25 entities,” says Kuldeep Kaushik, Chief Operating and Transformation Officer at AXA INM. “We have very different maturity levels across the businesses and very different technology landscapes as well. Part of my role is evaluating each of those entities and defining programmes which are specific to their maturity, business strategy, and needs and capabilities.” While AXA INM has an overarching transformation strategy, Kaushik notes that this is open to deviations where necessary. “We have key AUGUST 2019

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“ We’re focusing on solutions that are keeping the customer in the middle of all solutions we design” 100

— Kuldeep Kaushik, Chief Operating Officer, AXA International and New Markets

areas from a strategy perspective that everybody needs to follow and have a roadmap on. However, if there are scenarios where regulations are not evolving fast enough, certain providers aren’t present locally, or we do not have a strategy in place to build local solutions, we do make exceptions at that point.”

In terms of the core principles being driven at a group-wide level, Kaushik says there are seven key pillars being addressed: Legacy and technical debt, Cloud, the Partnership and Customer Service ecosystem, Big Data, Innovation and Artificial Intelligence (AI), People Capabilities, and Information Security.

Each of these pillars can face regulatory and infrastructural hurdles, but AXA INM’s ability to tailor its approach to wildly differing markets is reaping dividends. The Move to the Cloud initiative is a particular challenge when it comes to local regulation in some of AXA INM’s countries, Kaushik explains.

“If you look at our geographical spread, we have entities which have quite strict regulatory constraints. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), for example, has regulatory limitations from a public

AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘AXA’S 2018 INTEGRATED REPORT’ 101 cloud perspective and in terms of moving

answering the crucial question of the

data out of the country.” In terms of

authority of control. In an interview

negotiating a concern of this magnitude,

with FinTech Magazine, Olivier

the firm must consider both time and

Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO) at AXA

alternative solutions.

Poland, said operations will begin to

AXA INM does not want to establish

launch on the Polish National Cloud

any additional on-premises data centre

in summer 2019. In the Middle East,

environments, but territories whose

Kaushik notes, concerns surrounding

public cloud regulations necessitate

cloud strategy were alleviated by

private clouds are changing with the

the adaptations of cloud providers.

times. For example, the Polish

“We might have to make an exception

government is currently developing

in countries where we have regulatory

the Polish National Cloud, a new

data residency challenges and public

environment that will enable enterprises

cloud isn’t available,” he says. “Gulf

to move to a public cloud whilst also

countries, for example, had been w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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102

a concern in this area, but luckily cloud providers have evolved their business strategy and we now have both Azure and AWS (Amazon Web Services) available in the Middle East.”

Cloud maintains a centrality to AXA INM’s transformation plans as a key enabler of other technologies, such as Big Data and AI. Across the group, AXA INM is keen to increasingly leverage data as a means to drive business decisions, enhance customer centricity and build more meaningful relationships with customers.

AUGUST 2019

“ We have very different maturity of the businesses and very different technology landscapes as well” — Kuldeep Kaushik, Chief Operating Officer, AXA International and New Markets

Simultaneously, the firm aims to simplify customer journeys and data input needs from customers, especially for claims processes. “Our CEO is driven from a customer perspective,” says Kaushik.

“We’re focusing on solutions that are keeping the customer in the middle of all solutions we design. For example, we’re significantly focused on making sure that the customer journeys on the sales, servicing and claims sides are streamlined.

In terms of data touchpoints that we expect from the customer, we’re ensuring that we only ask for relevant information at the relevant time.” Not only are

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Kuldeep Kaushik, Chief Operating and Transformation Officer Kaushik is an engineer with an MBA from HEC Paris, with over 18 years working experience of which nine years have been with AXA. As a result, Kuldeep possesses extensive experience in Life, Savings and Health Insurance businesses, with key contributions in crystallizing the Life, Savings and Health strategy and building new innovative business models in AXA Group. He is currently Chief Operating and Transformation Officer of AXA International and New Markets platform in Madrid

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A X A I N T E R N AT I O N A L A N D N E W M A R K E T S

TRANSFORMATION IS AN ATTITUDE everis is an NTT DATA Company, dedicated to consulting, technology and outsourcing in all sectors, with a turnover of 1.43 billion euros in the last year, with more than 24,500 professionals across Europe, USA and Latin America, and with one goal: transform business all around the world.

Consulting, Transformation, Technology and Operations everis.com

105 customers being asked for less input throughout the process, but new technologies are being applied to simplify how those data inputs can be delivered. “In some of our countries, we can issue a motor insurance quote as long as the customer can upload an image of their driving licence and car registration document. That, for me, is customer centricity: you’re actually delivering solutions which make the life of a customer easier,” enthuses Kaushik. “From a servicing perspective, there are a lot of new technology-driven claims solutions that we have delivered in Turkey, Morocco, Greece and Nigeria,

“ We’re able to survey motor claims using various technologies, such as image recognition, to expedite the claims process” — Kuldeep Kaushik, Chief Operating Officer, AXA International and New Markets w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

A X A I N T E R N AT I O N A L A N D N E W M A R K E T S

for example, that deliver on the spot claims assessments. We’re able to survey accidents using various technologies, such as image recognition, to expedite the claims process as well.”

AI has been brought into the fold to speed up policy issuance as well as enhance the company’s cybersecurity capabilities. Robotic process automation (RPA), combined with AI, has revolutionised the back-end processes of entities across the group, and the positive results for efficiency are manifold. Kaushik offers an example 106

launched in Brazil that has cut policy issuance from weeks to just a single day. “We brought RPA and AI technologies together to deploy a solution that can take the process of policy issuance (which can take around 14-16 days) and turn it around in 24 hours.” he says. “Automation solutions are also being deployed in the security space – we have a sizeable landscape and exposure in terms of digital assets available in various entities, and on a monthly basis we now scan the entire landscape to ensure assets are protected and there are no vulnerabilities.” In addition, the AI-augmented scanning enables AXA AUGUST 2019

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“ It’s full steam execution for the next 18 months to become a truly Tech-Led organization” — Kuldeep Kaushik, Chief Operating Officer, AXA International and New Markets AUGUST 2019

INM to monitor whether any fraudulent assets have been launched across the internet that are aimed at deceiving AXA customers. “There are fake assets popping up across the globe, so we are using automation solutions to identify anything that could put our customers at risk.”

For Kaushik, one of the most exciting things about AXA INM’s work is the ability for emerging markets and entities to leapfrog established solutions and cut

€102.9.bn Approximate revenue

1982

Year founded

125,000

Approximate number of employees

ahead of mature markets. “In Senegal,

capabilities on the distribution side,

for example, you can upload pictures

and it’s about improving our data

of a vehicle and have a quote issued

capabilities. It’s full steam execution

for a motor policy; some of the mature

for the next 18 months to become a

markets don’t have that capability yet,”

truly Tech-Led organisation. Amen!”

he says, adding that we will see some major new projects delivered imminently.

“The next 18 months is about delivery; it’s about getting the legacy and the technical debt reduced to a minimum level. It’s about moving our infrastructure to the cloud, it’s about building digital w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

109

110

Al Khaliji Commercial Bank P.Q.S.C.: Qatar’s ‘next generation bank’ powered by digital transformation WRITTEN BY

AMBER DONOVAN-STEVENS PRODUCED BY

K ANE WELLER

AUGUST 2019

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A L K H A L I J I C O M M E R C I A L B A N K P. Q . S . C

In an exclusive interview with the Head of Information and Communication Technology of Al Khaliji, Saltuk Benderlioglu shares the transformation the commercial bank is undertaking to maintain its digital edge

A

l Khaliji Commercial Bank P.Q.S.C is Qatar’s pioneer ‘next generation bank’, offering a full range of conventional

banking products and services to Premium, 112

Business, Corporate, and International clients in Qatar and France. Though the bank is little over a decade old, it has amassed awards such as Best Corporate Bank for two years consecutively, Best Private Bank in 2019, and Fastest Growing Bank.

Saltuk Benderlioglu was part of the establishment of Al Khaliji when it came into operation in 2008.

In 2014, he became Head of Information and Communication Technology. “In my role as Head of IT, it is my responsibility to steer our bank through the uncharted territory of unpredictable technology trends,” he explains. “This includes Internet of Things, machine learning, AI, data analytics, blockchain and robot advisers. In this role I need to understand the technological climate to ensure that our bank maintains its competitive edge.” He emphasises that, with the AUGUST 2019

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“ Security of data is always our first priority” — Saltuk Benderlioglu, Head of Information and Communication Technology

growth of technology, the need for information security only increases, adding that Heads of IT have a responsibility to ensure that new and creative solutions are combating cybersecurity challenges.

Benderlioglu says that banks take years to establish, and that the company has adjusted its banking strategy over the years to match changes in climate. It has done this by initiating corresponding technology projects, such as core banking replacement. “Technology is driving the business environment, but when

114

devising our business strategy, technology must always follow the business,” says Benderlioglu, emphasising that the most important factor in the company’s current transformation plan is agility.

“This ensures that we maintain our competitive edge, and keep ahead as the ‘next generation bank’.”

BECOMING THE ‘NEXT GENERATION BANK’ “To be the ‘next generation bank’ is to be a step ahead of where we are in the financial services market in which we operate. This means remaining technologically advanced.” Benderlioglu warns, however, of the risk that AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘MEET JASSIM AND NOOR’ 115 accompanies this challenge, as

bank is technologically transforming

technological trends have the

to become the ‘next generation bank’.

potential to lead businesses astray

“Al Khaliji is moving towards cloud

from the market or business model.

computing with slow but steady steps,”

It is to this end that Al Khaliji proceeds

says Benderlioglu. “Currently, the

with caution and thorough analytics.

bank is focusing on hybrid options,

“The ‘next generation bank’ is able to

which means being able to run

make educated, high-quality deci-

services both from the cloud and with

sions, on the state of technology in

services on the premises.” In addition

order to remain a leader in financial

to this, Al Khaliji is building upon its

services,” he explains. “The other

AI capabilities. “AI applies first to our

quality of a ‘next generation bank’

analytics. Our IT strategy divides into

is maintaining appeal to younger

two major sections: transactional

generations of customers.”

banking and analytical banking.”

There are many ways in which the

He notes that AI is particularly relevant w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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Delivering the Vision: A Technology Journey In 2007 there was real excitement around a bank in the Gulf that wanted to do things differently. Al Khaliji had a powerful vision of developing the next generation of banking services, using the latest innovative technologies to fuel its expansion across the region.

Vedas was part of that journey from the early days. It was Al Khaliji’s first local technology partner and remains a key supplier of software and professional services – in fact, the only partner still working with Al Khaliji twelve years later thanks to its deep payments industry expertise and ability to support the bank with continual innovation and digital transformation.

Business Development Director Christine Rayes recalls that “Banks in the Gulf were ahead of many of their European counterparts because they were able to invest in new technologies without worrying about legacy infrastructure. What clinched the deal for Vedas was our ability to offer instant issuance for EMV smartcards – something that hadn’t yet been done in Europe, where customers still waited several days for their new debit and credit cards to arrive by mail.”

The Al Khaliji infrastructure created a full lifecycle approach to card management, which was extremely unusual at that time. It included EMV card issuing and acquiring, as well as ATM and POS transaction switching and kiosk-based services. Back-office functionality was integrated on the same platform, including settlement, reconciliation and dispute management.

Vedas rose to the challenge of helping to build this new transactional banking ecosystem and began its enduring relationship with the bank’s technology team. The age of 24 x 7 payment processing, with improved transaction speeds, enhanced data availability and multi-channel customer interactions had arrived. Al Khaliji was one of the first banks in the region to move towards a flexible and scalable service-oriented infrastructure for card and non-card payments, setting the bar high for competitors to follow.

Over the last decade, the world of payments has continually evolved, with increasing need for open architecture and easier integration of new services. Al Khaliji’s original vision means the bank is always ready to adopt new ways of serving its customers as their preferences shift to digital and mobile channels and e-commerce has become increasingly important. Here too, Vedas is recognised as an industry leader, with its unique combination of world-class solutions experience and local knowledge. The company’s Apex suite of software solutions is designed specifically to address the functional and regulatory requirements of banks in the Gulf region and to complement solutions from Vedas’s global technology partners.

Since 2011, this suite of capabilities has grown significantly to reflect the ever-changing payments

landscape. “Banks have been increasingly focused on building customer relationships through loyalty, big data management and analytics,” explains Christine Rayes.

“At the same time, we have developed extensive tokenization and cybersecurity solutions to help clients address the risks of doing business in the online world.”

Vedas has also become one of the region’s most experienced and accredited providers of mobile payments solutions.

The evolution of payments continues at a pace which means that there will always be new technology projects to enable change and innovation in customer-facing banking services. What does Vedas see happening in the Gulf market over the coming years?

Across the region, banks are facing increased competition in provision of payment services, with new entrants including technology platform providers and FinTech companies. The pace of technology change is faster than ever and there are big opportunities for innovation. Banks need to define new strategies to enable rapid and seamless delivery, focused on building strong relationships with customers and increasing revenue by introducing new services. Reputations will be established on the ability to innovate and willingness to embrace the next generation of new technologies. Security of transactions and customer data will be key to success, along with a focus on omnichannel payments strategies as the differences between payment types and markets become increasingly blurred.

In technology terms, this means handling real-time account-to-account transactions, contactless and NFC payments, QR codes, mobile P2P and strong authentication solutions. There are new possibilities presented by blockchain and future-proof payment hubs; but there are also challenges associated with compliance and customer demands in an increasingly global payments market. Through its commitment to deliver innovative solutions in this space, Vedas has expanded its Apex Suite with new and exciting applications covering all the payments solutions made possible by those technological enablers, from blockchain, to instant payments and tokenization.

“Vedas is on an exciting journey with Al Khaliji,” concludes Christine Rayes. “We are very proud to have continued this collaborative and trusted relationship with a highly valued client. As payments evolution continues, Vedas looks forward to supporting Al Khaliji’s vision for the next decade.”

Proud to be supporting Al Khaliji Bank with payment technology solutions

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to the latter, and that the bank is

from the beginning in order to have

working on systems to assist with the

a good analytics framework for your

decision making aspect. This includes

internal decision making.” Al Khaliji

aspects of compliance, which has also

began its implementation of analytics

improved with the implementation of AI.

internally, focusing on regular reporting,

“These areas are where we have our

management information, decision mak-

foot in the AI world, and our starting

ing systems and compliance. Bender-

point before we move to offering direct

lioglu attributes part of this success

AI solutions to our customers.”

to one of the bank’s partners, Tyconz,

Benderlioglu shares that the

which helped establish the founda-

adoption of these new technologies

tions for analytics. “We are now in a

is not without its challenges. “The

position to offer our analytical power

trickiest part of data and analytics is

to our customers, and we are in the

that the foundation needs to be right

process of preparing to offer this to

AUGUST 2019

our corporate clients.” This will allow

Benderlioglu says that the largest

customers to access their own

challenge was managing expecta-

information in the speedy and efficient

tions. Benderlioglu is referring to the

way that is increasingly demanded by

wide variety of associations that can

today’s consumer.

be had with a robot, from basic

One notable innovation from the

automation to the most creative

bank is the creation of humanoid

science-fiction inventions. “We have

robots, Jassim and Noor. “Our

to ensure that the robot is always

humanoid robots are implemented in

presented in the context of banking,”

our sales strategy. As these human-

he elaborates. “This is a customer

oids can move on their own, we

service designed for the banking

present them at customer-based

population.” It is for this reason that

events,” explains Benderlioglu. When

the humanoids act as ‘ambassadors’

asked of the challenges presented

of the bank, and not a direct sales

when creating the humanoids,

point. Despite this, they have the

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Saltuk Benderlioglu, Head of Information and Communication Technology Saltuk Benderlioglu is the Head of Information and Communication Technology at Al Khalij Commercial Bank. Mr. Benderlioglu has 20 years of experience in Banking Industry specializing in technology transformation projects. He joined Al Khalij Commercial Bank during the greenfield establishment of the Bank on 2007 and implemented a number of technology initiatives since then. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Ankara and earned his MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

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potential to act as a ‘lead’ for a

“To comply with GDPR, we have a sepa-

member of the sales team, should

rate storage facility for our European

they interact with a customer with

operations. When information needs

greater requirements.

to be exchanged for compliance, we

With the rise of Big Data, AI and

interact with European and, in particu-

analytics, the need for security is

lar, French regulations.” Benderlioglu

greater than ever. “Security of data is

notes that Al Khaliji’s vast knowledge

always our first priority,” asserts

of regulation also offers potential.

Benderlioglu, “and regulation is

“By understanding these laws across

paramount to a bank that operates in

different countries, it provides us with

multiple countries, as regulation varies

a better understanding of data and the

across regions.” This is particularly

new ways in which it can be utilised

relevant to Al Khaliji, as the bank must

in countries we operate in outside of

take into account compliance with

Europe. This allows us to provide

GDPR in its French subsidiary.

greater security to all of our customers.”

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘NEW TO QATAR’

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A L K H A L I J C O M M E R C I A L B A N K P. Q . S . C

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AUGUST 2019

“ Technology is driving the business environment, but when devising our business strategy, technology must always follow the business” — Saltuk Benderlioglu, Head of Information and Communication Technology

technological shift, and this has required effective communication and education both internally to our staff and externally to customers and regulators.”

Benderlioglu said that overseeing this process was a challenge, as it is not an easy process, but Al Khaliji has done it exceptionally well. “If you fail to implement change management, you cannot conduct successful, large projects in sequence.” Al Khaliji has two offices within the bank that are responsible with coordinating this process: a small, effective IT office,

This knowledge is highly valued by

and an overall strategy for projects

Al Khaliji’s customers, as the bank

functionality that reports directly to the

communicates with every demographic

CEO. “The CEO office itself has a

of readership through its social media

strategy and project management lead,

platforms and corporate communica-

which works in full coordination with all

tions department. “Our customers are

the stakeholders, but particularly with

demanding,” says Benderlioglu. “They

the project and strategy office in the IT

want to know what is happening with

department. This is required of a fast

their data, and it is our responsibility to

paced bank like us, and this is what

reassure them and keep them abreast

makes us the ‘next generation bank’.”

of our updated security solutions.”

Should the bank need additional help with implementing a strategy, it

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

chooses to approach specialist

“We have implemented the art of change

consultants. “Boston Consulting Group

management,” says Benderlioglu,

assisted us and helped us with

reflecting on the transformation thus

implementing a new strategy a few

far. “We have been through a rapid

years ago,” says Benderlioglu. w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

125

A L K H A L I J I C O M M E R C I A L B A N K P. Q . S . C

“ To be the ‘next generation bank’ is to be a step ahead of where we are in the financial services market in which we operate.

This means remaining technologically advanced” 126

— Saltuk Benderlioglu, Head of Information and Communication Technology

Digital transformation has caused

a company that is right for Al Khaliji

a significant shift in culture, but

because it consistently develops its

Benderlioglu asserts that this has only

solutions with agility.” He notes that

strengthened Al Khaliji’s relationship

a long-term key partner is VEDAS, as

with its vendors. “Al Khaliji seeks a long

it supports Al Khaliji in the payments

term partnership with its vendors,”

sector. “It can be more of a challenge

he says. “We are diligent in finding the

to engage and maintain new technologies

right solution for us and our customers.

when attention is primarily focused on

We have our solutions customised for

the day to day running of the bank, but

us, and seek to fully understand and

VEDAS brings us the latest innovations

build upon each tailored solution.

and informs us of new technological

One excellent example is Temenos,

advancements across the world.”

AUGUST 2019

127

THE FUTURE OF THE BUSINESS

regular discussions take place with

Qatar is a fast moving economy, and

regulators, resulting in a modification

as Al Khaliji looks to the future, its

or introduction of policy. With the

strategy places it in a prime position to

conscientious nature of the bank,

remain at the forefront of technological

and its educated understanding of the

growth across the region. Benderlioglu

movement of the technology market,

notes that, as Al Khaliji presses on

it certainly will continue to establish

through its digital transformation, it will

itself as the ‘next generation bank.’

be pushed to reconsider regulatory boundaries. He adds that technological advancements move ahead of regulations, and so it is imperative that w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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Gateway First Bank: from lender to banker WRITTEN BY

JOHN O’HANLON PRODUCED BY

ANDY TURNER

AUGUST 2019

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G AT E W AY F I R S T B A N K

With a goal to grow its accounts and deposits nationwide, Gateway Mortgage Group is preparing in mid-2019 to launch Gateway First Bank, its full-service, direct-toconsumer digital bank

B

uying a home is a pivotal decision for anybody. Much more than a routine commercial transaction, it speaks to that

person’s aspirations, hopes, and family identity.

It was with this awareness, and a vision to help 130

families and communities grow stronger through home ownership, that Kevin J Stitt, a career professional in the mortgage industry, started up Gateway Mortgage Group in 2000. By 2017, through some of the most challenging times for the housing market, Stitt had grown Gateway to become one of the largest privately held mortgage origination and servicing companies in America, employing more than 1,200 people at 160 branch offices.

In November 2018, Kevin Stitt was elected Governor of the State of Oklahoma, but before he stepped aside from the position as CEO at Gateway he had been able to advance a long-held desire to move beyond the origination and servicing of mortgage loans and turn the company into a fully-fledged bank. Leveraging the expertise of Stephen Curry, a banker specializing in banking AUGUST 2019

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“ Increasingly we turn to technology to reduce the number of touchpoints and enhance the borrower experience” — Steven Harpe, CIO, Gateway First Bank

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G AT E W AY F I R S T B A N K

“ It used to take days, even weeks to get through an application process… but now on the mortgage side of the business we average less 132 than 30 minutes” — Steven Harpe, CIO, Gateway First Bank

transitions who replaced Stitt as CEO in August 2018, Gateway acquired Farmers Exchange Bank to form Gateway First Bank which, with $1.2bn in assets and five banking centers in Northwest Oklahoma, emerged overnight as one of the largest banks in the State of Oklahoma by asset size, and one of the largest bank mortgage operations in the United States.

The enabling technology team Growing the technology infrastructure to support the radical and highly-unusual transformation from a mortgage company into a bank is a process that has been ongoing since the appointment of Steven Harpe as CIO in 2013. Harpe had held senior leadership roles in IT for more than 20 years. Back then, there wasn’t really a technology division in the present-day sense, he recalls: tech was seen as a black box, and the relationship with the rest of the business was an adversarial one. “We had to develop a managed services concept within the business,” Harpe explains.

Digital enablement is now recognized as essential to all financial services, though the industry as a whole has been slow to acknowledge that.

AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘THE GATEWAY EXPERIENCE’ 133 This is a company built on service,

services too. “Financial services were

and that has been the secret of its

late getting into this space but as we

rapid growth to date. “As we continue

move forward it’s no longer millennial

to take on additional customers we

problems we are trying to solve.

also want to be able to effectively

We are trying to solve problems for

recruit the sales and corporate staff

everybody and the digital platforms

that will serve them. Attracting the best

that we are building and integrating

people means offering them the best

today can do that,” stated Harpe.

products available through a top tier

Over recent years, mobile-friendly

technology platform.” Harpe adds that

technology has penetrated all industries,

it’s a mistake to suppose that millennials

with mortgage lending no exception,

are the only group to embrace digital

Harpe points out. “Increasingly we turn

technology, citing his mother who,

to technology to reduce the number of

at 74, is inseparable from her iPad for

touchpoints and enhance the borrower

communication, shopping and financial

experience by giving them an intuitive w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

G AT E W AY F I R S T B A N K

134

one-touch technology platform.”

backroom mindset and created a very

Fintech has become a commodity,

dynamic, agile and digital forward-

so his strategy has been to outsource

thinking group.”

the principal elements to the partners

The IT organization Harpe leads

who do it best. “I want to spend our

now has around 40 people, all with

time on applications, enhancing digital

a problem-solving mentality. “When we

experience, and making better use of

hire someone, we look well beyond

data to understand how we can best

IT knowledge and competence,” he

deliver our mortgage and other

comments. “We want people who will

financial services,” Harpe added. “We

take ownership of their ideas, and have

see ourselves as servants to everyone

a sense of urgency about them; people

in this company, and I am proud to be

who are excited to be here and keen

able to say we quickly ditched the old

to solve problems for the business.”

AUGUST 2019

FOUR KEY PLATFORMS

on the mortgage side of the business

On the front line of a lender’s relationship

we average less than 30 minutes,”

with its clients is the point of sale (POS)

stated Harpe. “We can automatically

system. In a competitive environment,

pull W2s, tax records and the like,

the speed and efficiency with which a

ingest these files and use the Blend

loan application can be processed

platform to digest the information and

makes all the difference. The POS

quickly get through the 1003 process.”

system Gateway selected was

The difference this makes to the

provided by Blend, a Silicon Valley

customer experience is immense

software developer that now connects

and it helps Gateway deliver its vision

more than 15,000 banks and financial

to realize the American Dream of

institutions to make routine checks. “It

homeownership. As Blend’s founder

used to take days or even weeks to get

Nima Ghamsari has said, a large

through an application process, which

number of people don’t realize they

was stressful for the applicant, but now

qualify for home ownership until they

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Steven Harpe, CIO Harpe leads customers using a unique combination of business experience coupled with 30 years of technology background in large scale cloud computing operations and engineering management. He has engineered, implemented, and managed some of the world’s largest technology platforms with multifaceted business applications. In addition, he has led initiatives to digitize technologies based on aged architectures, including providing mobile platforms. Harpe is dedicated to enthusiastic and progressive leadership as a means of creating and nurturing a lifelong passion of developing people to achieve their goals. In April 2019 he was appointed to the Oklahoma Board of Corrections. Harpe is a keen drummer in his spare time, having backed a number of rock bands.

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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘GATEWAY MORTGAGE GROUP - LINKSTEP’ 137 go through this process. Not surpris-

selecting a new partner in the summer

ingly, customer satisfaction and net

of 2019. Discussions are in hand with

promoter score (NPS) rates have

two industry-leading contenders.

soared. “Everything we’re doing is

As the launch of Gateway First Bank

geared around the customer experience

approached it was clear it should move

and we remove as much friction from

to the most sophisticated core banking

that process as we can,” Harpe

system available. In January 2019, it

emphasizes. “Blend is going to be

was announced that this partner would

helping us with direct deposit for new

be FIS, a global leader in financial

deposit account creation as well.”

services technology with a focus on

After approval, the loan application

retail and institutional banking. “FIS is

moves into the loan origination process.

a global company, and it supports

The current loan origination software

many of the leading direct-to-consumer

(LOS) provider Byte has served the

banks in the market around the world,”

company well but Gateway will be

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G AT E W AY F I R S T B A N K

on its own private cloud, in which it has invested massively, and it has deep experience and scale in digital banking.” The transition from the current Jack Henry banking system will take place in July 2019.

Loan servicing is the ongoing relationship between lender and client, and this relationship will be trusted to Sagent LoanServ, another partner with its own private cloud. Moving infrastructure from the data center into the cloud, whether private or public, has been an ongoing goal of the IT team, 138

and has largely been achieved, with Blend hosted on AWS as well as both contenders for the LOS. “By the end of 2020, we are going to be sitting in a very unique place. We are a mortgage company that became a bank – and that is exciting enough in itself – but by then we will have all of our core technology running our operations in our business wholly on the cloud, on some of the largest fintech platforms.”

Such partners were selected because they are highly future-oriented organizations that look at themselves primarily as technology companies.

This, says Harpe, drives their behavior and decision making.

AUGUST 2019

“ Everything we’re doing is geared around the customer experience and we remove as much friction from that process as we can” — Steven Harpe, CIO, Gateway First Bank

139

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FIS is proud to have Gateway First Bank as a new strategic partner on the Horizon Core Platform.

To learn more about FIS leading solutions and client success stories, visit www.fisglobal.com/now.

“ When you implement new technology, new skill sets are required and new jobs get created” — Steven Harpe, CIO, Gateway First Bank

fact, creating scale. When you implement new technology, new skill sets are required and new jobs get created.

We are excited about those opportunities, and even more excited about what this is going to provide for our clients. If you are a mortgage or a banking customer (or hopefully both) you are going to be able to consume Gateway First Bank through a common set of digital experiences from a single platform.

PLAYING THE BALL IN FRONT Most of Gateway’s growth up to this

That is where we are headed.”

The future of banking is omnichannel,

year’s bank acquisition and merger has

and as such Gateway will try to achieve

been self-generated, so the new bank

a full set of responsive, personalized

will be focusing on safeguarding its

digital services to its customers. For

reputation as Harpe emphasizes. “Over

example, The Digital One Online

the coming years, we will see mainly

Account Origination solution will allow

organic growth mixed with some

customers to open and manage their

acquisitions. But to use a baseball

accounts via mobile and laptop devices.

analogy, we are very much a ‘play the

“This is a foundational time for us,”

ball in front of you’ company – one

enthuses Harpe. We are creating a

thing at a time. The ball in front of us is

brand new foundation so mobile

the bank transition, the transfer of our

banking, credit cards and personal

core systems to FIS and choosing the

finance will all be extendable through

right loan origination partner.”

the APIs and digital services that we

Digitizing the operations and leveraging 21st-Century technologies such as machine learning and automation

are building. Our customers will find it easy to find us and do business with us.”

Gateway First Bank is a nationwide

will definitely not endanger jobs at

operator that was founded in the

Gateway, Harpe predicts. “We are, in

communities of Oklahoma. Its community w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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G AT E W AY F I R S T B A N K

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“ We are creating a brand new foundation… our customers will find it easy to find us and do business with us” — Steven Harpe, CIO, Gateway First Bank AUGUST 2019

spirit and commitment are a real differentiator for the company, Harpe insists – home ownership is all about aspiration, the family and a stable society, so the company that Kevin Stitt founded has always looked for ways to reach out. The projects it supports are numerous, but typified by the establishment and continuing support of a Christian school in Nigeria in 2009 as well as the Gateway Youth Ranch in Uganda which enhances the lives of disadvantaged young people in that country.

Closer to home, Harpe picks out Pearl’s Hope, a Tulsa-based project and refuge that supports homeless women and their families and helps them get back on their feet. “Oftentimes they find themselves having to run from home without the most basic necessities of life: Gateway provides Pearl’s Hope with some of these essentials.” The compassion he clearly feels chimes in with the company’s ethos of helping hard-working people regardless of their current wealth.

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KPMG: PRAGMATIC CYBERSECURITY SOLUTIONS FOR SMEs WRITTEN BY

AMBER DONOVAN-STEVENS PRODUCED BY

JAKE MEGEARY

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KPMG CANADA

LEADING CYBER STRATEGY AND TRANSFORMATION PROGRAMS FOR KPMG, DARREN JONES DISCUSSES HIS EXPERIENCE AS BOTH A CLIENT AND CONSULTANT IN THE CYBERSECURITY INDUSTRY, AND HOW THE GLOBAL CONSULTANCY OFFERS PRAGMATIC AND SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS

146

O

ne is always dealing with several clients at any time, assisting them with the different challenges or opportuni-

ties that they may be dealing with,” says Darren Jones, in leading Cyber Strategy and Transformation programs for KPMG’s clients. One of the key factors that make Darren Jones such a successful consultant for KPMG’s clients is his desire to empower those around him, combined with an empathetic understanding of a client’s experience. Before taking on the role of Director in the Cybersecurity consulting practice at KPMG, Jones had been a client of the firm. He was pleased with the professionalism and level of service provided by the firm, and now that he is with KPMG he shares that this background can be a surprise to those he works with: “I’ve been the person who’s either been working AUGUST 2019

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KPMG CANADA

“ ONE IS ALWAYS DEALING WITH SEVERAL CLIENTS AT ANY TIME, ASSISTING THEM WITH THE DIFFERENT CHALLENGES OR OPPORTUNITIES THAT THEY MAY BE DEALING WITH 148

— Darren Jones Director, Cyber Security Services, KPMG Canada

together with consultants at implementing a solution, and occasionally the one accountable for the budget that the different consulting teams are working within.” He continues: “Having been ‘on the other side’ as a client of consulting services, I am wary of recommending or implementing solutions that don’t have a pragmatic, lasting value for the client.” This experience helps enable Jones and KPMG to deliver a focused and cost effective solution for all organizations, but especially SMEs. Jones’s 20-plus years of work within consultancy allows him to draw upon previous experiences to create new cybersecurity solutions for his clients, as well as using his broad existing network to widen KPMG’s clientele.

For Jones, much of his personal sense of achievement has derived from supporting his clients in their technological journeys. He references working relationships that span decades with some of the most innovative creators and thought leaders in cybersecurity the world over. “That degree of intellectual engagement has always been an

AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘KPMG CANADA: LET’S DO THIS’ 149 exciting aspect of working in this field,”

targets a larger scale organization like

he remarks.

a bank or a government department that’s had access to millions of dollars

BECOMING CYBER AWARE

to build their cybersecurity, there are

When it comes to cyber awareness,

instant response protocols typically

unfortunately some of Jones’s clients

in place. For SMEs and NPOs, how-

have come to him only after they have

ever, security management can be

encountered a threat. “One particularly

either minimal or non-existent in some

worrying detail in the uptick in instanc-

cases.” These themes around cyber-

es of ransomware in recent months,”

security readiness were also borne

says Jones, “is the focus toward mid-

out in KPMG’s recently published

sized and small municipalities, mid-

CEO Outlook Survey. To help encour-

sized and even small hospitals, and

age preventative measures in place

some not-for-profit organizations such

of reactive ones, Jones shares that

as charities. When ransomware

KPMG consultants offer a 15-point tip w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

KPMG CANADA

150

and question sheet to SME clients to

the cyber strategy needs to be comm-

help to get them started on the journey.

unicated across all levels of a company.

With the rise of attention that

As an example, Jones recently delivered

cybersecurity receives, the demands

an awareness talk entitled ‘Cybersecu-

on Jones’s team have only grown. Yet

rity: How You Can Help’ which was pre-

he notes that there has also been a

sented to staff at one of KPMG’s long

growing feeling of “cyber fatigue” from

term municipality clients.

the constant fear mongering from

Discussing his experience working

companies and media over the last

with clients on change management,

decade. For this reason, Jones says,

which is vital in introducing any new

KPMG has focused on promoting prag-

strategy, Jones comments: “It’s impor-

matism in cybersecurity and cost

tant to build structures and measures

effective, sustainable solutions. To

to ensure the implementation will

ensure that a solution is sustainable,

proceed with proper acknowledge-

AUGUST 2019

ment of governance; to ensure the

feels positive about the future result-

ongoing vitality of measuring success;

ing from the solution: “It’s using that

and to have a whole strategy wrapped

frame as a way of helping the client

around that implementation.” He notes

to not only see a positive future, but

that putting these elements in place is

visualize what’s positive about the

key to helping to ensure dialogue with

future for them.” This is particularly

clients moves beyond empathy into the

important, he says, as KPMG does

practical implementation of solutions.

not operate solutions for its clients,

Jones emphasizes the importance of

so it is imperative that they are

not only creating solutions that are

pleased with and are ready to take

cost effective, but also ensuring a client

ownership of the result.

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Darren Jones, Director, Cyber Security Services Darren is an accomplished IT leader with over 25 years of experience both in industry and as a consultant. With demonstrated abilities in motivating and leading technical personnel, project managers and consultants, Darren has worked in a diversity of roles — as Director of the CIO Solutions consulting function at a large consulting firm, a senior executive and investor in fintech start-ups, leading the Security & Critical Infrastructure Solutions function at a major stock exchange, the VP of Information Security Solutions for one of the world’s first integrated managed solutions providers, and as the Senior Manager and lead for eSecurity Architecture Solutions practice area at a big 4 firm. This breadth and depth of experience provides Darren’s clients with a perspective that is at once strategic and pragmatic.

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KPMG CANADA

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“ KPMG AS A FIRM CERTAINLY RECOGNIZES THAT IT WILL HAVE SUBSTANTIAL NEEDS FOR TECHNOLOGY AND AI-DRIVEN SOLUTIONS TO SUPPORT THE LOCAL COMMUNITY AND BUILD SMART CITIES” — Darren Jones Director, Cyber Security Services, KPMG Canada

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yorku.ca/continue

“ HERE WITHIN KPMG WE ARE DEVELOPING A CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR CYBERSECURITY IN MUNICIPALITIES” — Darren Jones Director, Cyber Security Services, KPMG Canada

focused on cybersecurity fundamentals, and the other on offering an advanced certificate in cybersecurity.”

Four years on from the program’s conceptualization, Jones shares that KPMG has hired one graduate who has come through the program, Frances MacTaggart, who affirms the benefits of the course: “I couldn’t more strongly recommend the combination of certificates (Fundamentals and Advanced) to those who are new to the field,

EDUCATING ON CYBERSECURITY

wishing to make a career change or

To encourage this approach to cyber-

those who are wanting to further

security in consultants and to sustain

prepare for the CISSP designation.

knowledge development in the industry,

York University’s Cybersecurity

Darren has been working with York

Certificates are an outstanding way

University to provide mentorship to

to increase your knowledge and depth

students and graduates. Jones started

of understanding.”

working as a curriculum advisor to York University at the beginning of his tenure

LOOKING AHEAD

with KPMG. “This certificate program

A well implemented cybersecurity

is offered to undergraduate students

solution ensures that a company can

who wish to augment their existing

look forward with confidence at

studies by pursuing the specific

opportunities to innovate, instead of

certificates being offered, and it was

focusing on previous errors. As KPMG

also being introduced as something

looks ahead to the future, Jones

for postgraduate or working profession-

shares that the firm will assist in the

als to participate in. We have divided

creation of the security foundations of

our curriculum into two segments: one

smart cities. “KPMG as a firm certainly w w w.f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

155

KPMG CANADA

CA$1.5mn Approximate revenue in 2018

1869

Year founded

6,500

156

Approximate number of employees

AUGUST 2019

recognizes that it will have substantial needs for technology and AI-driven solutions to support the local community and build smart cities.” Jones urges that, as larger cities enlist private and public sector partnerships to build and operate smart city solutions, they be cognizant of the risks. While they will have their own specific concerns regarding cybersecurity as individual organizations, they need to be aligned by a single, overall strategy that can manage the public’s expectations and ensure citizen engagement and trust.

“Here within KPMG in Canada, we are developing a centre of excellence for cybersecurity in municipalities,” says Jones, and with KPMG’s impressive collection of awards and its pragmatic focus, the firm is set to cement itself as a cornerstone in implementing these cybersecurity strategies.

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